Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave. The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?” “Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.

“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man “Come in.” The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently. “What is it?” asked the man kindly. “Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!” Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?” Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel indebted. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?” On the way home. Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

Nearing the doorway. Jenny took a deep breath.

A gentle touch on her hair called her mind back.

Scout could clearly remember the night she had to leave her home in Poland. It was the beginning of World War II and her family had to escape as soon as possible. She quickly packed a suitcase with a few pieces of clothing, her diary, and her most prized treasure, a silk scarf. Scout and her best friend, Betty, had persuaded their parents to buy them matching scarves, which they took as a symbol of their friendship. Scout didn’t know she was going to America and would not be returning.

Scout kept that special silk scarf for many years. One day she decided to give it to her granddaughter, Eliza, to wear to her first job interview for good luck. Scout was afraid that Eliza would lose the scarf, but the granddaughter promised, “Don’t worry, Grandma. Nothing’s going to happen to your scarf. You’ll see that it’s going to bring both of us luck.” And with that, Eliza kissed her grandmother and left for the interview.

Leaving the interview, Eliza felt confident that she had got the job so she decided to celebrate by going to a restaurant. Sitting at her table, Eliza felt an elderly woman staring at her for a long time.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” Eliza asked.

“I’m sorry, dear, but you remind me of my best friend,” the old woman replied. “She looked like you and used to wear a scarf just like yours.” Eliza listened carefully, with her eyes and mouth wide open. She had heard stories of her grandmother’s best friend and knew the meaning of the scarf. Could this woman be Betty, her grandmother’s childhood friend?

Then the old woman introduced herself, “My name is

The old woman agreed.

Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.

One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.

Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.

The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.

Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.

Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.

A Bowl of Noodles

Jenny was the only child in her home. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help crying sadly when she thought of he scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat, but it was not even possible for her, since she had nothing with her. She stood beside a stand for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she sighed and had to leave.

The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”

“Oh, yes... but I don’t have money on me...” she replied.

“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man,

“Come in.”

The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. Jenny thanked the man and started to gobblle (狼吞虎咽) up the delicious food...then cried silently.

“What is it?” asked the man kindly.

“Nothing, actually I was moved by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears, “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so mean and cruel!”

Hearing the words, the seller smiled “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times that she has cooked for you? Have you expressed your thanks to her?”

Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock; she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why did I not think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful, but I have never thanked my mum for what she has done for me.”

On the way home, Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

Approaching the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.

Her mother came back home, which called her mind back.

As a sixth grader, I began noticing how other kids were separating into groups. I wasn’t sure where I belonged. I found it hard to fit in.

Our teacher had assigned “secret friends” for the coming week. She wrote each kid’s name on a piece of paper and threw them into a glass; then we each closed our eyes and catch one piece of paper from the glass on which was the name of a classmate who we were to secretly befriend and support each other over the next five school days. By the middle of the week, everyone, including me, had turned this assignment into a competition to see whose secret friend could leave the best gift. We left cards, pens and even money. It seemed that everyone was getting cool presents from their friend except me.

On the last morning of our assignment, I walked into my classroom and noticed there was a package. I opened the wrapping paper and inside was a box of powder (胭脂). The girls sitting near me laughed at the gift I had received. To make matters worse, the powder had already been opened.

I tried to forget about the embarrassing gift, but when I was in the bathroom during the break, the girls who had seen me open the powder started speaking ill of my secret friend. I quickly joined in: “How terrible”. I heard myself saying “What could my friend be thinking by giving me such a stupid gift? My grandmother wouldn’t even want it.” The girls laughed at my remarks and rushed out of the bathroom. I stayed to wash my hands and let the water run through my fingers as I thought about what I had just said. It wasn’t normal like me to say mean things like that about someone.

Then I saw my classmate Janet come out of a bathroom booth (厕所隔间), tears streaming down her face.

Along with my apologies, I explained the reason.

Have you ever lost something you borrowed from others? Well, my situation is close to that, but instead of losing what I borrowed, I wrecked it.

I live in San Francisco, where it seldom snows. But if you get in a car and drive a few hours, you’ll arrive at these beautiful snow-covered mountains. Last week, my friend Ollie and his grandmother Mary invited me to go skiing with them. It was colder than I’d expected. Mary offered to lend me her scarf. It was the softest, warmest, most awesome scarf, and Mary had knit (编织) it herself.

“These old knees need a rest!” Mary said after a couple of hours of skiing. “You two go ahead and take another run. I’ll be in the lodge, reading by the fire,”

So Ollie and 1 took one more ride on the ski lift up the mountain. As we looked around at the trees and watched people zipping down the slopes, I said, “This one piece of yarn (毛线) on Mary’s scarf keeps tickling my chin.”

I pulled on the end of the yarn, thinking it was just a loose piece that had separated from the scarf. But the more I pulled, the longer the piece became.

“You’d better stop.” Ollie said, “The scarf is unravelling (散开)!”

When I took off the scarf to see what she meant, I was horrified. “Oh, no! I just turned Mary’s special scarf into half a special scarf and half a big pile of yarn!”

It was one-of-a-kind-thing that I'll never be able to replace! “What am I going to do?” I asked my best friend.

Ollie suggested, “You could say you accidentally dropped it.”

“I hope you’re kidding.” I shook my head.

“You know 1 am joking around,” said Ollie, “Honesty is more important to Mary than anything. You just have to tell her the truth.”

Right then, it was our turn to get off the lift. 1 shoved the wrecked scarf into my jacket pocket and skied extra slowly down the hill to the lodge.

A friend of mine, named Jack, received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Jack came out of his office, a street urchin (顽童), called Tom, was walking around the shining car.

“Is this your car, sir?” Tom asked. “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” Jack answered.

Tom was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing. Sir, I wish.…” He hesitated (犹豫). Jack thought of course (路线), he knew what Tom wanted, but what Tom said surprised him greatly.

“I wish,” Tom went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”

Jack looked at Tom in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride (搭车) in my car?” “Oh, yes, I’d love to,” Tom answered. After a short ride, Tom turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Sir, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Jack smiled a little. He thought he knew what Tom wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Jack was wrong again.

“Will you stop where those two steps (台阶)are?” Tom asked.

He got out and ran up to the steps.

Jack got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car.